The Seventeenth Month
by thesetearsaremadeoffairydust
Summary: One snow-covered day in January, 1977, Sirius and the other Marauders make a plan to create one unforgettable prank for each of the seventeen months they have left at Hogwarts. While Lily and James' friendship blossoms, Remus gets his heart broken and Mary finds love, Sirius and Marlene come to an arrangement which will have consequences that neither of them could have predicted.


**Hey everyone! This is my first attempt at fanfiction, but I've read (and loved) loads of the work on this site. Blackinnon is my OTP, followed closely by Jily, so this fic features large amounts of both of them!**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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Hogwarts Castle on New Year's Day looked like something out of a fairy tale, its towers spiralling up into the mist, dusted with fresh snow from last night's storm. The air was still, and apart from the occasional flame flickering in one of the many windows, the castle appeared to be uninhabited. But beneath the silent exterior lived a continuous hum of activity and excitement, even on days such as these, when most of the students were home for the winter.

Sirius Black and James Potter were two of the few remaining Gryffindors, reclining leisurely next to one of the library windows. Exhausted but satisfied from the previous night's party, they worked sluggishly through the stack of books next to their seats. Sirius was the first to break the companionable silence which they had been enjoying for the last hour.

'Do you want to know what I think?'

James raised a practised eyebrow, used to his friend's less-than conventional opinions. 'Always, what is it?'

'We achieved a lot last year. The infamous Valentine's Day prank, the great indoor April shower, what was in my opinion our greatest end of year prank yet, and to top it all off a New Year spectacle worthy of literary recognition. Now, in our moment of glory-'

'Sirius, I love you, but you're waffling again. Remember what I said about getting to the point?' James tried to sound officious and exasperated, but the twinkling in his warm hazel eyes gave him away.

'The point, my dearest of followers,' continued Sirius dramatically, ignoring James' indignance at being called his follower, 'is that we have but 17 months left in this fine institution. I thereby propose that we make a plan. A plan unparalleled in its development and execution, depicting the 17 most INCREDIBLE PRANKS IN THE HISTORY OF MAGIC. ARE YE WITH ME?!' Sirius had been getting gradually more passionate with each word, and he finished on a roar, standing on his chair with one foot propped on the windowsill, looking down at James as if he was a crowd of thousands rather than a bespectacled teen. The teen in question, who had been listening intently for the majority of the speech, was now clutching his sides from repressed laughter.

'Mate', he wheezed, 'how many times do I have to tell you that your Scottish accent sounds like a hippogriff suffering from lycanthropy?' Sirius slumped back into his chair, pouting in disapproval of his enlightened speech's reception. James receded slightly, seeing the rejection in his eyes. 'It's a good idea though Pads, will need a lot of work but I suppose that's what Remus is for. We'll get started on it tonight, alright?' He never got his answer, because Sirius bounded onto him, enveloping him in cuddles, as if for a moment he had forgotten that he wasn't in Animagus form.

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That night, the common room was empty but for a single blonde, curled up with a book next to the fire. She sat there motionlessly, but in her mind the flames which danced in the background were laughing spirits, accompanying her through her dreams. She was so absorbed in her book that she didn't notice a solitary figure trudge through the portrait hole and make his way in her direction. In fact, she didn't notice him at all until he flopped onto the sofa next to her.

'Tired' was all he could get out, turning his head to face her with an expression of self-pity. She reluctantly separated herself from her novel, and surveyed the rugged youth beside her critically.

'Drinking again, Black?' She almost smiled at the familiarity of the scent of firewhiskey on his breath - for what was Sirius without alcohol? To her, he epitomised the party life of rule breaking, rampant sex and alcoholism. But he was also so much more than that, she admitted to herself as her eyes traced his clean-shaven face. He was autumn, with his playful attitude to life which made him so comfortable to be around. And she would never say it out loud, but autumn was her favourite time of year.

'Just a leetle', he replied, grinning sheepishly. 'Maarlene, why are you up here all aloney?' His words were slurred, but she could sense the seriousness behind them.

'Maybe, unlike you, I don't feel the need to get drunk every night. I partied last night, can't I read now?' She retorted, daring him to challenge her.

'But reading is done alone, and that's no fun.' He refused to let her win, knowing he sounded ridiculous but continuing all the same.

'You're not alone if you're doing it right, I have Anne with me all the time', she argued, gesturing to the title of the book which read 'Anne of Green Gables'. Sirius sat up.

'That's a muggle book!' He exclaimed, amazed. 'You're a pure blood! Where did you get that?'

'You know, you sound like one of those blood purists you ran away from', said Marlene drily. 'My best friend is a muggle born, remember?' He ignored her comment about his past, knowing she meant nothing by it; of all people, Marlene knew how hard he had worked to escape the awful reputation of his family.

'I've never read a muggle book, is it good?'

'Well this is one of the classics, so it's pretty old. It's my favourite though, I love how simple and happy it is! No wars, no death, just ordinary life. It's how the world should be.' Her voice was wistful, dreaming of a safer life, away from the horrors they had all been through in the last few years. Sirius noticed the sadness in her tone, and reached out in a moment of startling compassion, and softly tucked a loose strand of golden hair back behind her ear. Marlene stiffened at his touch, suddenly aware of their close proximity, but she dismissed the heat rising to her face as anger at the war. It's not like there was any other reason for her to be blushing, was there? 'Wow, how drunk are you?' She joked, laughing nervously. This was a side of Sirius she had seldom seen before, and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not.

'Am I not allowed to comfort my buddy? Come on Marls, at least I wasn't feeling you up!' He winked, and Marlene felt a rush of relief. This was the Sirius she knew and loved; this was the Sirius she understood. Even so, she felt the need to change the topic to safer territory.

Pretending to roll her eyes, she asked, 'So where were you tonight anyway?'

'Well,' began Sirius with gusto, and he launched into an account of the Marauders' evening. James and Sirius had told Remus and Peter about Sirius' revolutionary idea, and they had spent the rest of the day planning the escapades of the years to come. After a few hours, they had snuck out to Hogsmeade to get some drinks (thus his current tipsy state), and the others had gone to bed a few hours later, leaving Sirius in the kitchen waltzing with the house elves.

When he finished his story, he noticed that Marlene's head had rolled to the side and she had slipped into unconsciousness. With a smile, he picked up her book, taking care to save the page as he admired the front cover, then scooped her up and carried her carefully to her dorm. Her head rested against his shoulder, and the unfamiliar weight created an alien feeling in his stomach, which of course he ignored. He slipped up the girls' staircase, having unlocked the secret of getting up without it turning into a slide years before, and silently tucked her into bed, careful not to wake her sleeping roommates. He placed the book next to her on the pillow, and without thinking pressed a kiss on her forehead, so light it was barely even contact but Marlene stirred in her sleep, her lips curving into a smile. Mentally saving the image of her curled up under her blankets, he crept away, grinning to himself, oblivious to a redheaded girl watching him with a knowing expression etched across her face.

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'Marlene!' She tried to ignore the persistent sounds coming from her best friend. 'MARLENE.'

'No, sleep, good', she replied as coherently as she could muster. 'I'll miss breakfast today, join you for the snowball fight.'

'You already did, it's 12 o'clock', the redhead replied officiously, pulling the blankets away from her friend. Marlene scowled, but reluctantly sat up. Had she really slept that long? Come to think of it, she didn't actually remember going to bed last night… She dismissed that though, knowing how unreliable her memory could be after a long day.

'How long have I got?'

'Half an hour. I wouldn't bother making yourself look presentable, I have a feeling the boys have something ghastly planned… Peter wouldn't stop giggling at breakfast.' At the mention of breakfast, Marlene's stomach rumbled. Lily, ever the saint, heard it and chucked her a piece of toast. 'Don't worry, I didn't forget you', she said, winking. 'Now come on, up!'

Forty-five minutes later, the two girls left the Gryffindor common room, wrapped up warmly in several layers and topped of with hats and scarves. Marlene, following Lily's advice, hadn't bothered with makeup, but her long blonde hair was twisted into a plait which snaked out of her hat and down her back. When they finally met the others outside, Remus and James had already enchanted a snowman to chase a red-faced Peter around, while Sirius cackled madly from the sidelines.

'Get him Frosty! Come on, you can do it!' He catcalled, tripping Peter up as he ran past so he face planted the snow, and Frosty danced victoriously on his back. The girls laughed, alerting the others to their presence, and James bounded over. He enveloped Marlene in a warm, affectionate hug, squishing her somewhat, then they broke apart and he bowed deeply to Lily, an impish smile on his face.

'My Lady, you are most welcome. I hope we do not alarm you with our roguish tomfoolery, I assure you it is all in jest.' He giggled as Lily pushed him into the snow, pretending to be embarrassed at his actions but secretly glowing. At that moment, Alice, Mary and Dorcas strolled over from where they had been making snow angels, completing the Gryffindor snowball team. James deftly fashioned a small platform of snow with a flick of his wand, then stood on it. 'Welcome', he began regally. 'My lords', pointing at Remus and Peter, 'ladies', gesturing flamboyantly to the girls, winking at Lily, 'and scallywags', he finished, scowling at Sirius. 'Today marks the first annual sixth year inter house snowball tournament! As Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, I have elected myself as leader.' This statement elicited cheers from the girls and Peter, and heckling from Sirius and Remus. 'Hush my brethren, hush. As the house renowned for its brave and chivalrous nature, it is our duty to win. That's why I have gathered you all an hour early, to practice. Namely you, Peter, because even Mary throws better than you!' This was met with sounds of indignance from both Mary and Peter, but James ignored them and divided everyone into pairs, unsurprisingly leaving him and Lily as partners.

From where Marlene stood, chucking snow at Remus' stomach, she could see Mary blush faintly as Sirius strutted over to her. Knowing of her friend's long time unrequited crush on him, she sighed inwardly, hoping he would behave himself. 'When are those two going to admit they love each other?'

Marlene looked up, startled at Remus speaking. She was confused momentarily, her thoughts still with Mary and Sirius, but then she saw Remus looking in the direction of Lily and James, and she understood. He was pelting her with snowballs, although with little gusto, given he didn't want to hurt her. She was responding more violently, and one hit him smack in the middle of the face, at which she ran forward, cupping his face gently in her hands, her face a picture of concern.

'You're right, this has been going on for way too long! I thought once she finally admitted that she doesn't hate him they'd be together in a matter of days. But no, she's too stubborn and he doesn't want to push her.' The blonde laughed despairingly at her two best friends, who were now wrestling in the snow. Remus nodded in agreement, then took advantage of her momentary lapse in concentration to throw a snowball directly into her face. She screeched as the snow melted slowly down her neck, then swore vengeance on him. He couldn't help but feel a little scared as she glowered at him; Marlene was a formidable enemy, he had seen evidence of it whenever anyone dared to comment on Lily or Mary's birth.

From a few metres away, Sirius gazed wistfully at the pair of them. When James had told him about the snowball fight, that was what he imagined; fighting, screaming, laughing and most importantly, winning. But stood with Mary, who was weakly throwing pathetically aimed snowballs in his general direction, he felt like this was anything but. He felt bad for her, but what could he do about it? For starters, the Gryffindor girls in their year were off limits to him. He knew that the second he touched one of them, James would be on his back, and he couldn't be bothered to deal with that. And secondly, she wasn't really his type. Not that he was picky, but he preferred girls with a bit of a spark in them! Mary was unfailingly nice, and loyal, but he could never argue with her or feel anything resembling passion towards her. No, he needed someone who would challenge him, who would require a chase. Preferably with a laugh like Marlene's, he thought, watching her fight Remus. He loved to hear her laugh, although he feared in recent months she hadn't as much. There was no need to ask why, everyone laughed less, but he missed it all the same.

He was interrupted from his reverie by Alice and Dorcas, who had tired of sitting on Peter, and were now livening up the party by ambushing Sirius. He grinned inwardly, and without a moments hesitation charged after them. Now this was a snowball fight!

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They had beaten Hufflepuff, and were halfway through the match with Ravenclaw. James was engaged in a somewhat fiery snow duel with Rory Abbott, and Sirius was prancing around, cackling as a group of girls chased him. Remus and Lily were stood to the side, both pelting Emeline Vance with little reserve; although the two Prefects would never admit it, they despised her. Sirius paused from his taunting to hide behind Mary and Alice, noticing as he did so that Marlene was blushing furiously as she threw half-hearted snowballs at Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain Amos Diggory. He raised an eyebrow, dismissed it and continued with his game.

'Nice shot McKinnon!' Marlene grinned as Diggory recovered from a well-aimed snowball to the gut. In her opinion, his fair hair looked even more like honey in the bright sunlight. 'Did you know, my father used to take me to our local Quidditch pitch to practice shooting every day when I was younger. That's probably why I became Captain so early!'

Next to them, Lily felt like gagging, but her disgust turned to despair when she saw Marlene swooning over the guy. 'So that's why my mum doesn't let us play on Christmas Day!' Amos finished his fascinating story while Marlene listened adoringly. It was funny; she never seemed to talk as much when she was with him. He did enough talking for the both of them, she supposed! Some people found it irritating, how he never really let a word in edgewise, but Marlene felt like she had become annoying with endless wittering recently, and she liked how he brought her back to her old, timid self, how she was before she met the Marauders.

Just as she was about to ask Amos more about his fascinating family, the whistle blew, announcing the end of the game, and Ravenclaw's win. Given Slytherin had beaten Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, Gryffindor would have to beat Slytherin, and Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw, for Gryffindor to win, or so Lily explained. Despite Marlene's position on the Quidditch team, she had never really understood Hogwarts' way of point scoring; it seemed a bit hit and miss to her. Anyway, she drew herself back to where her team were convening to discuss tactics. For some reason, James and Sirius weren't involved in the discussion, but were stood a little way to the side, whispering conspiratorially, which she found odd. They were normally determined to be the centre of every circle.

It didn't take long to figure out what they were plotting. A few minutes into the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, James turned around from his snow duel with Mulciber to nod at Remus, who in turn nodded at Sirius. The three of them drew their wands simultaneously, and waved them in the air, muttering various incantations as the snow swirled around them mysteriously. All of a sudden, the snow began to form shapes, which drifted to the ground and turned to face the Slytherins. It was a small army of frozen animals! Amongst the Gryffindors there now stood a seemingly random mix of wolves, dogs, deer and small rodents, all glaring menacingly at the opposing team. At a hand signal from James, they charged, pelting the Slytherins in snow, ruthlessly knocking them over, while the Gryffindor sixth years fell about laughing. Following their fleeing competition, the group slipped and skidded towards the frozen Black Lake, cheering on the enchanted snowflakes.

As Lily stepped thoughtlessly onto the ice and the last of the Slytherins made it to the other bank, Avery turned around and pointed 'Reducto' at the ice beneath her feet, a malicious glint in his eyes. From that moment, everything felt like slow motion. Sirius was vaguely aware of attempting and failing to stop a panicked James from jumping into the water after Lily, who hadn't yet resurfaced, while Marlene ushered everyone back from the slowly cracking ice. He hadn't even noticed that he was still standing a few metres away from the ground when he felt Marlene's cold fingers clasp his wrist, pulling him firmly towards safety. For some reason, her touch woke him up.

'JAMES!' He screamed. 'JAMES! PRONGS! LILY!' From the snow covered ground, he leaned over the water, searching for some sort of movement, his heart panicking at the thought of his two best friends lost beneath the reeds, and all he could think was _not James and Lily not James and Lily, _and Marlene was holding him back in her vice like grip, then suddenly a mop of black hair, and shortly after a head of red, popped up from the water and Sirius could breathe again.

They scrambled to the side, and Sirius pulled first Lily then James out of the water. Lily collapsed to the floor, coughing and unable to stand, while James knelt beside her, shuddering with relief. Seeing the redhead shiver on the floor, he somehow regained all his energy and lifted her up, heading purposefully towards the hospital wing. Lily's eyes fluttered towards him, and she frowned.

'I can walk very well for myself, Potter', she snapped, but she knew it wasn't true, so she just let him grin unabashedly down at her, and sunk into his arms, safe in the knowledge that he was there.

Sirius watched them walk away and groaned. 'Prank One went well, didn't it?' He joked to Remus, and the pair of them fell into relieved hysterics, laughing at the wasted hours which had gone into that surprising feat of magic.

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**Thank you for reading! I hope to update in the next week or so, but please don't hate me if I'm a little late! Please review, I'd love to hear what you think, good or bad.**

**Ella x**


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